There are differing opinions as to whether the trend of healthcare companies outsourcing more of their recent cycle management functions will continue as a means of cutting expenses, or whether it is a short-term trend that will fade as current technological investments are digested.
Looking at the recent announcement between Intermountain Healthcare and R1 RCM, where Intermountain will send its 2,300 revenue cycle management employees to R1, a published report spoke to experts about whether this trend will continue.
One expert said he expects the trend to continue as healthcare facilities seeks ways to cut expenses and revenue cycle management companies offer economies of scale that can not be matched.
Another expert, meanwhile, said he expects that healthcare companies will eventually swing back to internal revenue cycle management once the get through the pain of investing in electronic health records.
A published report cited a survey that revealed 35% of small hospitals and 15% of large hospitals plan on outsourcing their revenue cycle management departments.
Other healthcare companies, such as Tenet Healthcare have announced plans
